Understanding Torque, HP, and Speed with VFD and Fans

Know the Speed/Power/Torque Trade-Off for Your Application

Did you know that when you control and vary the operating speed of your industrial centrifugal fan or blower using a variable frequency drive (VFD), you’re affecting both horsepower (HP) and torque? It’s not always obvious, but it’s important to understand when you may be operating at reduced power or torque due to changes in speed because you always need a certain horsepower to drive the fan and move air through the type of pressure in your system.

Continue reading →

Wondering How to Calculate Brake Horsepower for a Fan Motor?

We’ve Got the Right Step-by-Step Equation to Solve for That

Brake horsepower (BHP) is an important number to know because it tells you how much force you need to stop the motor and, ultimately, what size motor you need to drive your industrial fan application. The video above and copy below outline exactly how to calculate brake horsepower for a fan motor with a simple equation.

Continue reading →

Fan Installation Checklist

Things to Check When Running Your Fan for the First Time

When your new industrial fan or blower arrives at your facility from the manufacturer, it should already be tested and ready for fan installation. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing more to do to ensure it operates properly! Whether it sits idle awaiting installation or goes right into service, there are several important things to check when running your fan for the first time.

Continue reading →

Industrial Fan Coupling Grease

How to Align and Grease Fan Couplings

Your direct-drive fan may use a coupling to connect the motor shaft to the fan shaft. The constant motion and friction within the coupling make coupling grease very important at start-up and throughout regular fan maintenance.

Continue reading →

Fan Rotation Direction

How to Know Which Way Your Fan Wheels Roll

Clockwise or counterclockwise? It’s a surprisingly common question we get related to industrial fans and blowers. Determining fan rotation direction is simple once you know the trick, and it’s important to understand during the specification process.

Continue reading →

No Time to Spare

Keep Industrial Fan Parts On Hand To Avoid Downtime

When you’re running industrial process operations, you don’t have time for downtime, and it can be very costly on top of that. But if something goes wrong and you don’t have spare industrial fan parts on your shelf, it can take weeks and even months to replace them, particularly if your fan is custom and especially in the current supply chain environment.

Continue reading →